You can't fight destiny
by KensieRae
Summary: After having not seen each other for a while Ruthie and Martin both return to the Camden household, each recently dumped. Epilouge has been added.
1. Messages from home

Disclaimer: I don't own 7th heaven. I don't own much of anything actually!

_Ruthie,_

_Hey this is Lucy! Thanksgiving is in two weeks and you still haven't told Mom if you are coming home or not. You know how important it is to her to have the whole family home. Call me._

_Ruthie,_

_It Mark. Look we both knew it wouldn't work. You're too good for me._

Throwing my purse on the counter I hit the erase button over and over again on my answering machine. Adding a post-it reminding me to call Lucy to the thirty or more other notes to self. So I'm too good for Mark, what that really means is he is tired of waiting to sleep with me. Well, he wasn't really my type anyway. Reminding me way too much of Vincent who I would rather forget. My first serious boyfriend and the first guy to cheat on me **and** be able to justify it.

Maybe I will go home for Thanksgiving this year. Its been two years since I finished college and I have skipped all non-present holidays since moving east. And knowing how Mom loves having the family there and I do miss them. The twins are almost all grown up and everyone else is married. And so I am actually going to return a phone call for the first time in months.

_Dear Martin,_

_It's been a long time since you have visited. I hope you are well. Everyone would love to see you. As you know Thanksgiving is coming up next month, I would love to have you join us this year. I know that you may want to spend time with your own family, but know that we consider you part of our family and would love to have you spend the holiday with us. Just call and let me know. You are welcome to come for as short of or as long of a visit as you want. _

_Love, _

_Annie Camden_

I guess it has been a while since I visited the Camdens. And I really don't think I want to spend another holiday with my dad and his new wife. I love my dad, really I do, it's just that his wife drives me crazy. Every time I see her I think of that girl Zoë from high school. It could have to do with the fact that they are about the same age. So I am going back to Glenoak and back to the family I always wished were mine. I imagine that all the kids besides the twins are married and have children of their own. Although I'm not even in a serious relationship and I am older than Ruthie.

Annie smiled as she realized that all of her children along with a few extras were going to make it home for Thanksgiving. Having decided that this was the last year she was going to participate in planning and cooking the meal before handing the job over to Lucy, she felt this was a perfect way to end her career in Thanksgiving festivities.

Well let me know what you think. That means review people. If you must flame make it more useful than 'you suck'. Thanks


	2. That's Martin?

I do not own 7th heaven or anything connected to it. I do own a demon possessed dog and you are welcome to her.

Ruthie's POV

I walked into the airport to only see Kevin waiting at my gate. Strange because Lucy promised that if I came home she would come to pick me up. The mystery was solved when Kevin led me not to baggage claim but three gates over.

"Who else are we picking up?" I asked since I was pretty sure I was the only family member not driving home. It is just too long of a drive for me. We arrived at the gate just in time to see Lucy hug a man who can only be described as tall, dark, and extremely handsome. The perfect cliché. But honestly I had never seen anyone that good looking before. It made me nervous. It made me even more nervous when he engulfed me in a very serious bear hug. Who is this guy?

Martin's POV

I was so glad to see Lucy waiting for me when I got into Glenoak. For some reason even now I always assume being alone with the reverend means that I am in for a mini sermon. Kevin was walking up and as I was shaking his hand I got a glimpse of the girl standing behind him. She was gorgeous. And even though she had changed a little, I knew right away that it was Ruthie. Something about the way she walked and stood. It's as if she never has to use words to express what is going on in her mind. However, it wasn't until I pulled back from hugging her that I realized she had no idea who I was. Had it been that long? It surprised me how much the idea of Ruthie not knowing who I was hurt me. It felt like heartbreak, but that didn't make sense because I was never in love with Ruthie. She's like a sister to me, always has been.

Third Person POV

"Well, that was a quiet ride home," Kevin stated as he walked into the kitchen and immediately grabbed an apple.

"I know, did you get the idea that there was something going on between those two? Like they are made at each other? Or maybe…?"

"No, Lucy forget it. You are not playing matchmaker with your sister and Martin?"

"Who said anything about matchmaking?" Lucy innocently.

"No one had to, I know you."

They quickly changed the subject as Ruthie and Martin walked in the door. As the only ones not coming for just the actual day, they had their choices of the empty rooms. Surprisingly there was little discussion about it, Ruthie took her old room and Martin took the room he had before Savannah was born.

Perhaps they should have taken a nap when they arrived, but instead they spent the time before dinner discussing where they lived and what they were doing. Jet lag caught up with Ruthie about half way through dinner when she fell asleep at the table.

"Don't worry, I'll carry her up. I was just about to go to bed myself." Martin said to the Camdens as he lifted Ruthie carefully so as to not wake her.

Next time: Martin tucks Ruthie in.


	3. late night chats

Disclaimer: No ownership of the show or characters once so ever. Trust me the story would be going different if I had say.

Sorry about taking a long time to update. Weekends are family time and so I do not get to use my computer.

Martin cradled Ruthie in his arms and slowly, so as not to wake her, walked upstairs to her room. About half way up the stairs he felt her wrap her arms around his neck. Still holding her in one arm, he used his other arm to pull down the covers on her bed. After laying her on the bed he sat down and pulled her feet into his lap so that he could remove her shoes. Tucking her tightly under the covers, he placed a feather-light kiss against her hairline and then walked out quietly shutting the door behind him. Holding Ruthie in his arms felt so normal, so familiar, and so right. It didn't make sense because there were very few times that he remembered even hugging Ruthie. The one memory he did have of holding Ruthie made him smile and at the same time confused. It was the night that they met Vincent's parents. He had answered the door with Ruthie slung over his shoulder and then for a reason he still didn't understand had just continued to hold her rather than putting her down. He always wondered what Vincent's parents were thinking of the scene in front of him.

Ruthie woke up at about three am and began to try and figure out how she had ended up tucked in her bed. For some strange reason she seemed to remember Martin kissing her. But it seemed almost to be a dream. Dream or not, she had to admit she liked the idea of being kissed by Martin. Knowing that she could not sleep any longer, Ruthie decided to go downstairs and get a drink. Maybe she would be hit with inspiration to finish her latest writing. It seemed impossible to write these days, because how can you write about romance when you definitely are not experiencing any. However, Ruthie's musing upon her writing were interrupted by the fear of finding someone else in the kitchen in the middle of the night. Of course as soon as the scream left her mouth she realized it was Martin.

"Ruthie, are you alright. Sorry I thought I would be the only one awake." Martin asked the concern showing across his face.

"Yea, sorry! I was lost in my work, you know, we writer's tend to be dreamers." She explained. "Couldn't sleep?"

He sighed, "no I've just been lost in my thoughts all night." "It's so crazy to be back here, I feel like I'm back in high school," he continued after a long pause.

"I know what you mean. Being home makes me see how much I miss it. I only come back for Christmas, I guess I'm missing a lot." She thought for a minute and then smirked, "so what's the reason you decided to grace us with your presence this year?"

"Your mom wrote and asked me to come," he said hoping that she would buy the simple answer.

"Uh huh, and?"

"Well, the last two years I went home with my girlfriend but I thought it might be a little uncomfortable with her new boyfriend there and all. My stepmother hates me because I remind her that my dad had a life before her. You can't be without family over the holidays so there you go."

"What are we competing for the most depressing life? Because I want a shot. I'm a romance novelist who can't seem to keep a guy around for more than a week. Why? Because I'm too 'good' for them. My last decent boyfriend was also the one who was best at making excuses for dating other girls. And that was Vincent in high school. Why did your last relationship fail?"

He laughed, "I can't believe we are sitting here complaining about our failed love lives. I just realized I couldn't see myself ever married to someone who would always put herself first; although, I'm sure there was a better way to tell her. One that didn't involve her throwing vases at my head. All the baseball practice came in handy catching them." Of

By the time he reached the end of his story they were both laughing so hard they could barely breathe. And it felt nice, neither of them could remember the last time they had sincerely laughed at something. Once they caught their breaths, it was almost six o'clock and so they decided to make breakfast for everyone.

Okay I just needed to establish this information. Mainly for me, by the way. Please review. Make me feel loved.


	4. Thanksgiving

_Disclaimer: I claim absolutely no ownership of the show 7th heaven, and this surprises you how?_

_Thanks for the reviews._

The next few days passed much the same way as the first night, a mix of getting to know one another again and plenty of friendly teasing. It was a huge surprise to Ruthie how quickly she rediscovered why she used to enjoy having Martin around. Despite them never having called one another friends before, she was now realizing that he used to be her best friend. How she missed him and even more amazing is how she never knew that she was missing him until she saw him again this week. And even though there was still three days before they both went back to their homes, Ruthie found herself missing him so much it hurt. Now that she had found her best friend again, how can she ever give him up again?

Martin was soaking in having a family again, but more importantly discovering that there was one person who would always be his friend no matter how long he had been ignoring them. It made him sad to remember that he didn't even come back to Glenoak for her graduation, and she had even called to ask him to be there. But he had wanted to move on with his life, get past that particular part of his life. After all, it seemed that many of the bad parts of his life had happened while living there. His heart had been broken for the first time, his dad was overseas for the most important years of his childhood, his aunt moved and rarely wrote, and an injury forced him to give up on his dreams of playing professional baseball. Once he had left Glenoak he let all the negative outweigh the positive parts, the parts of his life that were the happiest he had ever felt. However, he did love his new life and didn't think that he could move back. He just wished that he had visited or at least called more often.

The quiet that had marked the beginning of their visit was the exact opposite of the second half of their visit. Once all of the Camden kids and their children arrived it was impossible to have a conversation without screaming to be heard. Ruthie was shocked at how much her nieces and nephews had grown in the past year. Matt and Sarah's children were the best behaved two quiet little girls that took after their mother. Savannah and her two little brothers were the ringleaders of any trouble. Charlie was not at this year's Thanksgiving as he was in New York with Carlos, but Mary had come with her new boyfriend. Simon even had a son who he called the best mistake of his life. For not the first time Ruthie felt like she was behind in the growing up department of life. At least this year Martin was there to share in the singleness that set her apart from the rest of the family.

"So not being married means you have to sit at the kid's table," Martin asked with a smile.

"Basically, although since Simon and Mary aren't over here with us I think it's really about having given them a grandkid. But not sitting over there means that they don't expect you to clean up. Just feed the little people." Ruthie replied while learning over to add some turkey to her youngest niece's plate.

By the time Ruthie had all the younger ones settled with plates of food, Martin had begun a discussion about baseball with the twins. Ruthie wondered if she was the only one who noticed a sad look in his eyes as he talked about the dream he had lost. And that was when she realized that she didn't even know what it was he did for a living. Or where he was living now. Well, there was only one way to find out.

Okay, next chapter will be up soon.


	5. what if we lose it

_I still do not own the show. I own pretty much nothing just so you know._

It was the last day of Ruthie's visit home, she needed to get home before her editor showed up at her parent's house to force her to write. Martin was staying one more night, so he was sitting in her room watching her pack when something strange and important occurred to him.

"You know Ruthie, we've discussed past relationships, your family, and almost everything important or unimportant; but we've never talked about where we live. I have no idea even how to get hold of you once you've gone home. So where do you live?" He asked seeming slightly more annoyed than she had ever seen him.

"You're right, how weird is that? Okay, so I live in Charleston. South Carolina, not Virginia. It's a good place to write. Plenty of historic houses and ghosts to make romantic novels seem better than they are." She said laughing simply to lighten the mood.

"So, we live in the same town. Did you know I lived there? And you have just been ignoring me for the past, however long." Martin began to pace her room.

"Wait, no, what?" Ruthie asked, completely lost in this new, strange conversation.

"Forget it. It was nice to see you again, have a nice drive." Martin spat as he stormed out of her room, not sure why he was so angry.

Annie came upstairs thirty minutes later to find out why Ruthie was not ready to leave yet. They needed to leave soon if she was going to catch her plane. Instead of finding her daughter packed and laughing like Martin, she found her crying uncontrollably.

"Ruthie, what's wrong? What happened to Martin?" She asked, sitting down beside her daughter and absentmindedly stroking her hair.

"I don't know, he just got mad and left. Mom, why didn't you tell me that Martin lived in the same town I do?" Ruthie asked as she began to sob less.

"He does? I didn't know. I sent his letter to his father with a note asking him to forward it to Martin. But that doesn't explain what is going on between you two."

Ruthie sighed and then took a deep breath before trying to explain what had occurred to her mother. "Well, he asked me where I lived and then he accused me of ignoring him. He seems to think that I should have known he lived there. By the way did you not mention to him where I lived?"

"Well, I only sent him a short note inviting him here. I didn't write about the family. It seems like he jumped to conclusions and got his feelings hurt. Why don't you try to talk to him? But hurry because your plane leaves soon."

"Actually it doesn't. I called my editor and told him to find out when Martin's plane left and get me in the seat next to him. I decided it was the only way to force him to talk to me." Ruthie explained as the sly smile she normally wore began to work its way back onto her face.

Martin spent the rest of the day in his room. He would have preferred to go to the garage apartment, but the twins were now living there. He was already drafting a note to Ruthie, not necessarily to apologize because he felt he was right, but at least to try and keep her friendship. He wasn't sure why it was important to him to keep it but he knew he would never forgive himself if they stopped talking. Ruthie spent the next at Lucy's house so that Martin would not know she was still in town. She wanted answers to why he was so mad at her, but more importantly she couldn't stand to face the chance of losing her best friend just as she had finally found him. She was going to do whatever it took to convince Martin that their friendship was worth working out whatever issues they had with one another.

Question: Is this format difficult to follow? Should I break up scenes somehow/


	6. Familar Stranger

_Disclaimer: If you don't know its not mine by now can I recommend seeking psychiatric help? _

_BTW: If you have suggestions I would love to get them. _

Martin arrived at the airport much earlier than he had anticipated. He hadn't slept the night before and didn't think he spend another moment in the house that reminded him so much of Ruthie. Although he still wasn't sure why it bothered him so much, it wasn't like he was in love with her. No one gets that upset over a friend though. For someone who rarely, if ever, cried though he had certainly cried a lot over Ruthie last night. He knew he looked like crap, but since he wasn't looking to pick up any girls he guessed it didn't matter anyway. Finally they called his row to board the plan. It was a small plane with only two seats per row, and due to the holiday season every seat except the one next to him was filled. Just before the plane began taxiing down the runway, the person in the seat next to his boarded. Due to the way they were covered up, Martin could not tell his seatmate's age or even if they were male or female.

As she was used to trying to avoid being noticed by her fans, Ruthie was excellent at traveling incognito. She made sure to board at the absolute last minute so that Martin could not change seats or flights even if she wanted to. She was going to talk to him, whether or not he wanted her to and, if she had anything to do with it, he was going to listen. She decided to wait until the plane was at cruising altitude because she remembered that Martin had told her that no matter what he tried his ears really bothered him when taking off or landing.

Just as Martin was ready to turn towards the window and pretend to sleep so as to avoid the awkward conversation between strangers, the person (whose voice was decidedly female) said something so surprising that he had to listen.

"You know the worst part about falling in love, is not knowing what you have until you've lost it and never even knew you had it," she said removing the large sunglasses showing serious brown eyes.

Between the familiarity of the stranger's voice and the intrigue behind the statement Martin had to turn and signal for her to continue.

"Well, say someone was a very good friend, so good and you didn't even know it. But then something happened and things were wrongly assumed. Suddenly they're mad at you and don't give you a chance to fix things. They're just gone. It's in the moment that you realize that your heart broke in ways that not even the best of friends could break it. And so you find love and lose it all at once. How will you ever find a way to tell them since you don't know how to get in contact?" Looking into her eyes, Martin felt like he should know them and her words, it was if she was reading his mind. Unless, but not it couldn't be because she left yesterday. And she would never love him. Did he love her? Yes, he realized he did. What if he had assumed wrong?

And so he had to ask her, "How could one find out if they made a mistake? And if they did will an apology ever be enough to give them a chance to get the love back?"

She smiled, "Just follow your instict to know whether or not you actually made a mistake in assuming too soon. Is that somethiing they would do? Love always gets a second chance, even a thirty-seventh chance if necessary."

With that Martin knew and he reached over and pulled off her hat and pulled away the scarf covering her face.

Sorry, you'll have to wait to the next chapter. I think it's a good place to end it.


	7. She's gone

_Disclaimer: If you don't know its not mine by now can I recommend seeking psychiatric help? _

_BTW: If you have suggestions I would love to get them. _

"Ruthie, did you know that I lived in the same town? I need to know." He asked more uncertain of himself than he had ever been in his life.

"No one knew. Mom sent your letter to your dad and he forwarded to you. No, I wish I had, " she said.

"Okay, sorry but now I need some sleep," Martin said as he rolled back to the window.

Ruthie smiled to herself, finally she had her best friend again. And he lived in her town so she would finally have someone to talk to. Sad enough since she finished college three years ago, she had not gotten close enough to anyway to call them a friend. Suddenly it hit Ruthie like a freight train; she loved him. When did that happen? She heard it come out of her mouth when she was talking to him, but it was a matter of her heart knowing better than her mind. She had claimed to love one or two of her previous boyfriends, but knowing what she knew now she knew that this was the real deal. And it scared her, scared her bad.

Martin was woken up by someone shaking him saying, "Sir, sir we landed ten minutes ago."

He looked around and realized he was the only one on the plane, quickly grabbed his stuff and got off. He scanned the baggage claim both for his bag and for her. But she was gone, out of his life as quickly as she had re-entered it. He reached into his pocket for his car keys and found a phone number as well. Not wasting any time he grabbed his cell phone and dialed. Of course he got her machine. She wouldn't be back from the airport yet. He had to leave a message she couldn't ignore.

Ruthie walked into her apartment both happy and exhausted. She hated cross-country flying. Jet lag is the worst. She noticed her machine was blinking and hit play, knowing she would delete them all without listening. But one message forced her to listen.

_I love you too Ruthie Camden. Sorry I didn't tell you before. It only hit me that you had told me later, in a dream. How did this happen? I love you, it's good and weird to say. Anyway, I'll call you tonight. I just wanted you to know._

He loved her! She took the tape out of the answering machine. She wanted to keep it forever and then she put it back. Why keep a tape of him saying it when she could hear him say it tonight? Because she was going to see him tonight and every night after. She would make sure of that. Because Ruthie knew that once you found a good thing, its important to hold on and never let go.

Should I end it here or add more? Should there be an epilogue or a sequel? I will depend on your reviews for the answer.


	8. Christmas

_Okay don't hate me or actually, you know what, if you want to hate me go right ahead. You won't be the first person or the last. It's no big deal._

_So considering the reviews I knew I would do a final chapter, however I just can't see writing a sequel at this time. _

**A little over a year later…**

Christmas at the Camden house was crazy. This is a fact that seemed to escape Martin Brewer when he decided to spend the holidays with his girlfriend's family. It wasn't that it was crazy that was getting to him, but the fact that despite it, or maybe because of it, he had never enjoyed a holiday more. He started imagining bringing his own kids to a crazy Christmas at Grandma's just like this one. That really got him thinking, and then planning.

Even though it was Christmas Eve and they were there to visit her parents, Ruthie couldn't help but be worried that she hadn't seen Martin all day. He had simply promised to be back in time for church. In the year they had been together she had only seen him be so vague on about three occasions. She was the vague schemer and he was the calm voice of reason. Those were their roles and she didn't like changes. She hoped he'd gone to see his dad; she worried he gone to think of a way to break up with her. After all, he did look overwhelmed by the entire family being there at once.

It took him up until the last second before he had to get ready for church to get his plan into action. He'd had to talk to the Reverend, Kevin, and Lucy. And knowing how Ruthie eavesdropped, he had to get them far away from the house to do it. But overall he was scared senseless of his plans for the morning.

Ruthie was convinced it was only 2 a.m. when her nephew started bouncing on her bed screaming something about Christmas and stockings. Despite the fact that she was sure he would have plenty of candy that day, she offered him some to go wake up someone else instead. Knowing she had only bought about ten minutes, she decided to go ahead and get dressed. She was not surprised when someone came running in yelling about it being Christmas only minutes later. She was surprised to see that it was Martin who was so excited about Christmas.

Martin almost fell off the bunk bed when he heard Simon scream. Seems all of the kids had decided Simon was the most likely to take them to see their presents. Actually Lucy would be more willing, but not even the kids were brave enough to try and wake Kevin up. Just as he was rolling over he remembered Ruthie's present and practically jumped out of bed, making one of the younger kids cry and earning a glare from Simon.

She was definitely convinced that he had lost his mind when he threw the smallest present she had ever seen at her. It was basically a post-it wrapped up in shiny paper, not much to get excited about. But he looked pretty excited, at least at first, then he looked like he might throw up. Written on the paper was a riddle about having to earn her present. Oh, it was way too early for this. However, by about the fifth clue she had gotten some pretty nice presents, including those earrings she been wanting forever. The twelfth present was a simple box, wrapped in boring paper. There was not a clue attached. When she opened it to find a snow globe she was unable to stop herself from sighing in disappointment. Not that she expected a ring, but she was hoping for something meaningful.

When she opened the snow globe and slightly glared at it, Martin was almost to the point of tears. He noticed the adults in the Camden family were starting to look their way. Finally Lucy, thank God for Lucy, asked Ruthie if the snow globe played music or lit up. The way her eyes lit up even while she was biting her bottom lip made Martin wonder if Ruthie was unsure what the ring meant. When she turned his way and saw he down on one knee, with her entire family watching, she understood. And then she cried.

Martin was walking towards her, his concern obvious. "Hey, you don't like it? You think it's too soon? It's okay, really. I have another present in my room in case you didn't want it. Actually it's the present I had originally bought. Then we got here and I fell in love with your family again; and with how you are with the little kids. And I knew that I wanted this kind of Christmas every Christmas. I'm sorry, I knew it was too soon."

Somewhere during his ramblings Ruthie began to laugh. Yet, again he was playing the voice of reason, certain his spontaneous idea would never work. She started to speak a few times, but he just kept talking. Finally she leaned over and kissed him, really it was the only way to shut him up. He looked so uncertain and so cute when he pulled back from the kiss. She held up he hand to show him the ring she had put on during his monologue.

Finally after years of not knowing how he felt about love and marriage, Martin Brewer knew one thing for certain. He was in love with Ruthie Camden and she was crazy enough to want to marry him.

That's all there is and there isn't anymore. Good night all.


End file.
